Electrolux IoT microwaves turning into steam ovens

[Rick Law]

Infiltrating everyone's life with constant surveillance, whether they want it or not, and whether this is just for commercial or political reasons, is a gigantic force that is getting increasingly hard to oppose.

re: "...is a gigantic force that is getting increasingly hard to oppose."

A good solar storm may help.  When they can't use their microwave oven, can't unlock their front door, can't open their garage door, can't run their dish washer, can't wash their laundry, and can't flush their toilet...

Come to think of it, I kinda like to see that happen.  It would be good for human kind to learn the problem of depending on something inherently undependable.  To be explicit, that inherently undependable thing is: "Depending on big tech to have your interest above their own profit target."

[MrMobodies]

One day I could see them selling microwaves for "free" but to use it they'd charge a monthly/yearly subscription fee and for every feature.


I just found this:

https://www.tovala.com/oven

Meet the ultimate
time-saving machine.
The WiFi-connected Tovala Smart  Oven gives you time back with a little steam, a little magic, and our Scan-to-Cook technology.

"Let groceries cook themselves." 

Very stupid... groceries don't cook by themselves.
That's what all that stuff is for to cook by set instruction.

If there is enough encouragement with these things and soon nobody will need to learn how to cook and I wonder about food poisoning when it gets the time wrong.

[Someone]

One day I could see them selling microwaves for "free" but to use it they'd charge a monthly/yearly subscription fee and for every feature.

You're not thinking evil enough, also already a good story:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/
(originally posted on this forum here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/right-to-repair-for-non-technical-people/msg3609342/#msg3609342)

[PlainName]

I'll just put this here

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22332212/cricut-crafting-machine-design-space-upload-limit

Essentially you have to use their cloud based program to send data to the cutter.
This was a free service which is now being limited unless you pay a subscription fee.
Attempts have been made to circumvent this which requires hacking the hardware but it appears that's going nowhere fast

!
!!
I have a competitor device and creating a new paper box to hold flat parts (think Hammond box front panels) can take several iterations to get right. I could see something like that cutting me off before I've even got the design working.

OTOH, I'd never have got something that required upload to the cloud in order to download to a local machine. Sometimes principles work out OK

[madires]

If manufacturer would be forced only to declare the design lifetime of the products, the competition to build good quality products would finaly began, we could see resources put into designing long lasting products instead of this nonsense.

The EU is working on exactly that and some other good ideas for long-lasting and repairable products.

[MrMobodies]

One day I could see them selling microwaves for "free" but to use it they'd charge a monthly/yearly subscription fee and for every feature.

You're not thinking evil enough, also already a good story:

The way Salima found out that Boulangism had gone bankrupt: her toaster wouldn’t accept her bread. She held the slice in front of it and waited for the screen to show her a thumbs-up emoji, but instead, it showed her the head-scratching face and made a soft brrt. She waved the bread again. Brrt.

Nice story.

Since when is a toaster my boss?

[dbctronic]

How about 'brickruptcy' to refer to an appliance going dead because the manufacturer went belly up?

And of course, unscrupulous ex-manufacturers could sell your customer data to phone scammers, who will then try to sell you a 'maintenance service' for the fool thing. 'Brickscamming'!

[PlainName]

'brickruptcy'

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, but I will make an effort to use it as often as possible 

[Neutrion]

If manufacturer would be forced only to declare the design lifetime of the products, the competition to build good quality products would finaly began, we could see resources put into designing long lasting products instead of this nonsense.

The EU is working on exactly that and some other good ideas for long-lasting and repairable products.

I read many stuff about EU initiatives to tackle the problem, but never heard about this one, which would be the only effective way. Do you have a link for this? Can be a german one as well.
Would be a good news. I will tell it to my fridge and toaster as well.

[madires]

In German:
- https://www.elektrogesetz.de/ab-heute-neues-energielabel-und-pflicht-zur-reparierbarkeit/
- https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/975272/429000/8eeb3a85da3cf1e72f15b37d7276f529/de-lebensdauer-download-bericht-data.pdf

[AlfBaz]

OTOH, I'd never have got something that required upload to the cloud in order to download to a local machine. Sometimes principles work out OK

Me neither. I discovered this nonsense whilst looking for a cutter to buy. Seems a shame too as it looks to be very capable hardware

[Cyberdragon]

One day I could see them selling microwaves for "free" but to use it they'd charge a monthly/yearly subscription fee and for every feature.


I just found this:

https://www.tovala.com/oven

Meet the ultimate
time-saving machine.
The WiFi-connected Tovala Smart  Oven gives you time back with a little steam, a little magic, and our Scan-to-Cook technology.

"Let groceries cook themselves." 

Very stupid... groceries don't cook by themselves.
That's what all that stuff is for to cook by set instruction.

If there is enough encouragement with these things and soon nobody will need to learn how to cook and I wonder about food poisoning when it gets the time wrong.

They keep advertising the crap out of this thing over here. They have people in their kitchen saying it's their "secret" and "just scan and cook" No, the next Juicero will not make you a chef...it makes you an idiot that can't even use basic kitchen appliances.

[MrMobodies]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tovala-Gen-Multi-Mode-Programmable-Stainless/dp/B07K85LXBK

jimvn 1.0 out of 5 stars nice steam feature, but stops working
Reviewed in the United States on 27 August 2019
Verified Purchase
The steam feature was working, but not any more. Properly toasts only one side of bread.
Also, once you get it on your wireless network, there is no way to remove it; no reset to factory. I removed it from my Tovala account per their instructions, but it still appears. It also puts out 2 error messages into my router's log, every minute, 24/7. I have it unplugged soon to be trashed. It was $350 when I bought it late last year, now it's trash.

Can't find anything about factory resetting it in the manual.

Maybe setup a separate station name for it but on the same vlan.

I buy a pizza, put it in the time and settings and check half way through. Easy.

Here I have to, take a phone out, open the "app" scan the packaging and put it in and I'd check the cooking.
It seems like a burden to me. I'd find it easier to do it manually and remember cooking times and sometimes check the food whilst it is cooking.

I see there are some basic controls but I'd want all the cooking controls on the oven and not just dependent on a phone/"app"/wifi/cloud hosting and support by manufacturer to do these basic tasks.

[Cyberdragon]

The fact that the manual for a toaster oven is 1.7MB is concerning, unless it's in color and multiple languages.

[Halcyon]

How useful is IoT on kitchen appliances anyways?

Fixed: How useful is IoT on kitchen appliances anyways?

Slightly off-topic but I went shopping for a pressure washer this weekend. Kärcher (and I'm sure others) now have "smart" pressure washes that has bluetooth control of pressure etc... WHY?! Why on earth do I want to get my phone out, fiddle with it, just to make water come out of the end of a nozzle?

Needless to say, I went with one of the "dumb" models with just a trigger and manually adjustable nozzle.

[voltsandjolts]

now have "smart" pressure washes that has bluetooth control of pressure etc... WHY?!

IMO this sounds like extreme out of control marketing department. They fit bluetooth to the pressure washer just so you have to install the app on your phone, which then harvests as much data as possible about you and sends it back to the mothership marketing knobs. Probably with some added advertising in the app too.

[themadhippy]

WHY?! Why on earth do I want to get my phone out, fiddle with it, just to make water come out of the end of a nozzle

so when you hit the wrong button  in the app it  soaks your phone ,forcing you to buy a new phone which is too new for the old pressure washer app you have,forcing you to upgrade said washer

[Berni]

Oh just wait til you see this smart coffee mug:
https://ember.com/

It has a built in heater and charging base to keep your coffee at the desired temperature. And how do you set the temperature? Using an app over bluetooth.

Techmoan reviewed it and the first time he connected the app to it he actually also had to do a firmware update.... let that sink in... firmware update... for your coffee mug.

[PlainName]

Oh just wait til you see this smart coffee mug

That's not as far out as some stuff. I often come across a nearly full mug of tea which my partner has forgotten about and then whines if I tip it down the sink, saying it could be reheated in the microwave. I reckon a mug with ability to remotely start it heating, possibly with periodic notifications to the phone, would be cool for her.

[madires]

Slightly off-topic but I went shopping for a pressure washer this weekend. Kärcher (and I'm sure others) now have "smart" pressure washes that has bluetooth control of pressure etc... WHY?! Why on earth do I want to get my phone out, fiddle with it, just to make water come out of the end of a nozzle?

Because your neigbour can then tap his smartphone all day long: on ... off ... on ... off